CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday launched a plea in English as tensions mount between Washington and Caracas: “No crazy war, please!”

Maduro’s comment came after United States (US) President Donald Trump said he had authorised covert action against the South American nation, and amid an escalating US military campaign against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific.

“Yes peace, yes peace forever, peace forever. No crazy war, please!” Maduro said in a meeting with unions aligned with the leftist leader, a former bus driver and union leader.

The United States has deployed stealth warplanes and Navy ships as part of what it calls anti-narcotics efforts, but has yet to release evidence that its targets — eight boats and a semi-submersible — were smuggling drugs.

The US strikes, which began on September 2, have killed at least 37 people, according to an AFP tally based on US figures.

Regional tensions have flared as a result of the campaign, with Maduro accusing Washington of seeking regime change.

Last week, Trump said he had authorised covert CIA action against Venezuela and was considering strikes against alleged drug cartels on land.

The Republican billionaire president accuses Maduro of heading a drug cartel, a charge the Venezuelan leader denies.

“We know the CIA is present” in Venezuela, the country’s defence minister Vladimir Padrino said Thursday.

“They may deploy — I don’t know how many — CIA-affiliated units in covert operations…and any attempt will fail.”

Padrino was overseeing military exercises along Venezuela’s coast in response to the US military deployment in the Caribbean.

Experts have questioned the legality of using lethal force in foreign or international waters against suspects who have not been intercepted or questioned.